Thieves of War (War for Olympus Book 1) (PercyJackson fanfiction)
by JulesLeInvicta
Summary: It has been 10 years since the events of the Heroes of Olympus and Apollo's mortality and Camp Half-Blood has prospered. But the Heroes of Old are going to war against the Gods and new heroes have to stop them. But It will not be easy and many shall die... (This is also on Wattpad!)
1. Chapter 1

1

Caspian

Caspian loved his friends but Elena was getting on his nerves.

"Don't you think it's slightly bullshit that we have to be here? I'm all down for being a demigod and having these powers but like I can't even go to college because I will get attacked. I mean for fucks sake it's annoying," Elena says as she throws a dagger in the trunk of a nearby oak tree.

The first thing you saw about Elena was how gorgeous she was then you notice how scary she could be. Sure you feel inferior around her and wonder how she looks that good and assume she's a daughter of Aphrodite. After that you notice her caramel brown hair that slightly curled to her mid back, her soft green eyes, and her graceful form. She looked so kind and sweet but man could she be evil when she was mad. Like now.

"I mean it's how things are. We can't change that so we might as well embrace it and do what we can no?" Caspian says as watches the blue water of Long Island Sound splash against the beach.

In a way, the beach made Caspian think of what he hoped Elysium might look like. It's water was smooth and gentle, like a blue glass had settled over the miles and miles of empty space. The occasional cloud would grace the sky. They would flutter by before sailing onward to see the rest of the world. He always admired the seas, if he wasn't a son of Hermes he knew he would want to be a son of Poseidon. Granted the powers of those guys were pretty strong but none of them were anywhere close to the strength of Percy Jackson. Everyone knew who Percy Jackson was. Legendary Hero of the Titan AND Giant Wars? One of the few heroes who even survived both of those deadly conflicts. Plus he and his wife are the only known heroes in history to survive Tartarus, the abyss where all monsters reside. It was hard to go anywhere without him or Annabeth being brought up.

"Oh they killed that when they were 13. Oh they fought those when they were 15! Didn't they fight them when they were in Italy?"

See my point?

Though I didn't mind them of course. They had a family in New Rome now so Caspian assumed they were happy. Well I mean as happy as demigods could be.

"I don't mind fighting monsters my whole life. Better then struggling in the real world and being just like everyone else. At least here we are safe and have powers and stuff," a voice said behind him.

He turned around to see two familiar faces approaching them from down the beach.

Theodore D'Harcourt was holding a bunch of drinks and apples in his arms. He gave us a smile and attempted a wave. His dark eyes matched his dark hair which was shaved on the sides but he had kept the top long, giving that American Eagle model sort of vibe. Or that's the way it seemed. He wasn't that bulky of a figure, he had a lean build, and an inquisitive look on his face. It was always as if he always was looking through you or at things you couldn't see yourself. He was hard to pin down. Sure he was no coward but he had a deep innate curiosity that drove him. Caspian knew Theo wanted to learn as much magic as possible. It was almost like a hunger. Any time he could use magic he did. Which of course made Theo very unpopular at camp given the amount of what Caspian assumed was jealous that resonated from the other campers. And being a son of Hecate didn't, they were a weird bunch but some of them were weirder than most. So Caspian HAD to befriend him. I mean a best friend who could do magic? Caspian almost lost his mind with the amount of pranks he could do with that kind of stuff at his disposal. Plus Theo was an easy going guy and normally didn't do much to fuck up to status quo. However there was mischievous side to him that Caspian suspected loved causing trouble when he could.

Next to him was Aristos, who claimed he didn't have a last name but I'm pretty sure that's a lie. I mean it's 2019, who doesn't have a last name? Regardless Ari had wavy blonde hair that fell around his neck, but it wasn't long and weird like those guys you see at a Spencer's or some shit. It was like a surfer on the beaches of California that you'd see out there. He was muscular and athletic looking. However he was no son of Ares but Apollo, but he said firing a bow and arrow built up your arms and shoulders drastically which explained why he looked like he could bench press a table or two. He had these bright blue eyes that almost faded into the whiteness of his eyes like a pale ice blue.

Despite his surfer-like appearance, looks can be deceiving. Ari was adaptable and helpful in all regards. Of course he was also courageous and caring but he was known to adapt to any situation put against him. Everyone had a dark side and Ari didn't know when not to speak out. If he didn't agree, he wasn't going to bow. Did it get them in trouble at times? Oh yeah. His mouth was his greatest enemy. Funny considering his brothers and sisters were great singers.

Wait could he sing? Caspian didn't know. Huh… he'd have to ask.

As they approached Ari and Theo sat down besides the two of them and passed out the water and apples.

"Well fighting monsters still sucks. Especially since you can die but, it's nice to be different than everyone else." Ari continued.

Elena seemed unconvinced. The thing about her was she was beyond driven. She and Ari both clashed heads so often it was annoying especially since they would fight forever about the smallest thing. But that's what everyone loved about her. Her confidence in everything was intoxicating. She was so sure about all of her decisions no matter what it was. She never gave up. Her attitude was something to be feared. On top of it all she was devastatingly gorgeous as I said before. She and Caspian had been friends for 4 years now. Elena was smart no doubt about it but Caspian knew she craved a normal life at times. They had seen too many people go out on quests and not come back. It was awful hearing how they died, depressing even. But it was worse when they'd go out in groups to go deal with a large hydra is in the area causing trouble or hunting a powerful demigod and we have to go save them. Seeing your friends die in the field was awful. Hearing them scream and beg for mercy before the end was enough to drive anyone to the breaking point. It was hard being a demigod. We died all the time. When he heard from the older campers and adults how few campers there used to be it was depressing and strange. Like Caspian was used to seeing around 200+ demigods now. Apparently it wasn't always so. In the winter there wasn't as much as the summer but it was pretty close in number. Most adults couldn't live at camp so they moved to New Rome. Unfortunately the Greeks didn't have a massive safe city like the Romans did. The Greeks did have plans underway at least to start one. Caspian was curious to see what it would look like.

"It feels like there isn't more to being a Half-Blood than killing monsters and such," Theo said lightly as he lifted a rock in the air simply by lifting his finger. "I mean we always have to save the Gods when things go against them. They don't even visit us, they rarely even give us a message."

Theo looked disinterested as he spoke, which was his standard face to everything but this wasn't something we hadn't heard before. Most of the half-bloods in the camp had grown to feel the same way about their parents. Twice they fought in massive wars in defense of the Gods and they have done little to nothing in thanks. Yet that is the way things had to be? Caspian couldn't lie, even he felt angry towards his father, whom he's never met mind you. Recently so many campers trained as hard as they could but it wasn't for defense of the gods, nor was it so they could grow in strength and be powerful. No...rumors had grown that many trained in hopes to-

"Caspian?" Elena said as she stared at him.

"Huh?" he replied intelligently, "Im sorry I wasn't paying attention."

Elena merely shook her head, "I asked if you had found out who the Hermes cabin had decided to fight for in tonight's capture the flag game?"

Caspian gave her a mischievous grin. One thing he was good at was garnering information from people, rumors, and a few… choice ways. HE was proud of it and campers from all over came to him for info about a number of things. But this particular subject, he knew exactly who was fighting for who.

"The teams are Nike as blue and Athena as Red," He said slowly, letting that sink in.

Ari leaned back and raised an eyebrow. Theo just sipped his water as if this were old news while Elena watched feverently.

"Nike has significantly less numbers than Athena, Blue team consists of: Nike, Ares, Hephaestus, Hypnos, Nemesis, Demeter, and Dionysus. Athena has the rest." Caspian said with terrifying glee.

Elena leaned forward shocked, "Athena garnered all of the Big Three? Plus she has like 40-50 more campers than Nike. This is going to be a wash."

Ari smiled as well and gave Elena a nod, "We have the power, the magic, and the archers. They just have the melee."

Caspian laughed as they began talking about the different ways they were going to kick blue teams butt and the better shower times that they were gonna have. They were getting even more excited about it when Theo spoke.

"Do not underestimate Kalin," he said quietly, his voice almost a whisper.

His name passed over them like a cold breeze, sucking the excitement out of the air.

"He can't beat us all," Ari said simply, his icy blue eyes piercing into Theo's dark ones.

Elena ran a hand through her hair, "He's something else Ari and you know that. I don't think I have ever seen him lose. Even I don't think I could beat him, I'll try but I very much doubt I would win."

Ari scoffed, "You give him too much credit Elena, and you Theo. He's one guy. ONE. He doesn't even have any powers like the rest of us do. Nike's children are just win freaks. They are still human though."

Theo sighed, "Yet he has never been beaten, and the entire Ares cabin has lost to him. Did you see him defeat Nick and his 6 goons? He beat them all as if they weren't sons of Ares but rather daughters of Aphrodite! I didn't even see Kalin get touched once."

"Or the time The entire Nemesis cabin challenged him and he defeated them all eventually. All 15 of them. Now they fight for him. They say he's the next Achilles, greater a swordsman than even Percy or Clarisse. Kalin not someone you can just pin down or beat, Kalin doesn't lose and you are a fool to think you can beat him. It's impossible." Caspian said matter of factly.

Ari stood up and faced the ocean. It wasn't smooth anymore. The sea was churning as if the topic of Kalin was enough to warn them of the upcoming threat.

"I would rather fail at doing something great then do nothing." Ari responded.

We sat there watching his face as he stared at the ocean while his hands rested in his jeans. His mind far away.

We ate in silence after that, letting the midday sun slip by, before Elena stood up and announced, "Well we better be off towards the pavilion, we have dinner soon, then the long awaited Capture the Flag!"

Caspian stood up gracefully, another perk of being the son of Hermes, light of foot and swifter than most. It was hard to knock him off his feet and if you did he normally could recover quite easily. He held out his hand and help Theo up who in return gave him a wink. He wasn't sure what that meant but he gave him a slight nod in return. He supposed he was going to find out whatever Theo had in mind.

As they made their way down the beach and past the northern woods where all manner of creatures and monsters lie in wait. Caspian slipped besides Elena, her green eyes distant and far away. She had her thinking face on which normally made her look like she was glaring daggers at you. He knew that wasn't the case because Theo and Ari were a few feet ahead of them whispering to each other and he doubted that Elena was angry at either one of them.

"What are you thinking about?" Caspian probed as he gave her a gentle nudge.

Elena gave him a small smile and nudged him back, "Ah nothing just what Ari said."

Caspian raised an eyebrow, "You mean about failing at doing something great?"

Elena shook her head, "No about how we make Kalin out to be a lot stronger than he really is. I mean Kalin is seriously something out of this world Caspian. I understand there are skilled swordsmen and then there's being outstanding… but then theirs Kalin's level. He's only been here like 3 years now? I barely even know him and as far as I know he doesn't talk to anyone else either. He's a loner. I don't even see him train. How can he be that good."

Caspian let that sink in. The thing about Kalin that made so many people either worship or fear him was that he never spoke to anyone. He never hung out with his cabin mates nor was he anything like them. Normally the children of Nike were constantly competing to see who was the best and the first at doing things. They almost petitioned for a dictatorship at camp but it was shot down due to inner bickering amongst the cabin as too who was gonna be in charge. The senior counselor of the cabin, Mick Donnavan, even said that Kalin just stuck to himself, didn't want to lead or be in charge. Caspian had spent some time watching him once last summer (I was curious, leave me alone) and found that he was a hard guy to track, he spent a lot of time hidden away before reappearing when the Nike cabin had activities to do together. Kalin was an enigma.

Caspian took a moment before speaking, "I don't know him that well Elena, no one really does. He's just a great swordsman, all we can do is train and do our damndest to beat him. Plus you are a daughter of Zeus, you can blast him with lightning. I doubt he can dodge lightning. Or I'll just steal his armor one night and pray he won't fight eh?"

Elena gave him another dazzling smile and suddenly she was back to her old self, confident and daring. She raised her hand and let some electricity slip between her fingers. "I doubt he could dodge my lightning indeed."

As they made their way off the beach and down the green grass they heard a horn bellow out. Dinner time. They saw most of the campers were coming in large groups, some led by their senior counselors, others in groups of friends, but one thing that was certain was the excited hum amongst them all. Capture the Flag was after dinner and everyone couldn't wait.

Elena went to her table which was now filled with seven others of varying ages, ethnicities and cultures. Ari split off giving Caspian a responding nod before joining the very large Apollo cabin table. Theo stopped though before he left and looked at Caspian very seriously. "Something is going to happen tonight. Something with Kalin. The Hypnos campers joined with him immediately, something about dreams and other things. I'm not sure what but from what I've heard… Tonight's game is going to be very interesting. Stay on your toes. If the Hypnos cabin is actually playing instead of sleeping on the sidelines… I'm worried."

And with that Theo turned away, his eyes lost in thought while his hands made some of the utensils dance around.

Caspian watched him leave before slowly making his way to the Hermes table.

"What did he mean by that?" He thought to himself. God he was tired of hearing Kalin's name. For five minutes he wanted to talk about anything demigod related and not have that guys name thrown in.

As Caspian found his place at his table, which had the most members out of any cabin with a resounding 28 campers led by Alfie Lawson who was a slim curly brown haired guy in his early twenties, he looked down at his food as some of the air dryads quickly dropped down a plate of grapes, roasted pork, buttered bread, some mashed potatoes and a side of skittles. He was about to dig in before he realized he hadn't given a piece of his food to the gods yet. Apparently the Gods liked the smell of the burnt offerings. Caspian didn't understand it but Hey whatever floats your boat.

As he stood over the burning fire, he was almost tempted to not give him anything. He didn't even know what he looked like. But he thought better of it. He thought for a minute before dumping his skittles into the fire. "Father, again I've never met you but I would love a sign as too what my destiny is." He prayed silently, but he had serious doubts his father was listening. He never answered his prayers.

He made his way back to his seat just as Alfie was doing a headcount and making sure everyone was present. Once everyone was accounted for he put a thumbs up and waited until all head counselors did the same. Just as all the head counselors had their thumbs raised, Chiron made his way to the head table with Dionysus and two satyrs following. They sat down Chiron in his wheelchair form, although everyone knew he was a centaur, and Dionysus in his… well… leopard tracksuit looking as lazy and bored as ever.

Dionysus drank a diet coke while a satyr passed him a few chips to eat. For a camp director, it was known that he hated being here, but since he apparently chased some nymph that was off limits he was forced to be here for… 30 more years or so. I guess Zeus thought training his children was a severe punishment for trying to seduce a girl. The thought made Caspian mad. But Caspian shook that aside as Chiron stood up and cleared his throat.

"Heroes I welcome you all here once again to the Camp Half-Blood. We are happy you've all gotten settled in and back amongst your cabins. Remember to respect your senior counselors or else the punishments will be severe." He seemed to look at a few tables in particular, Hermes table included before he continued.

"Now onto the newcomers who arrived just yesterday morning. We have: Lucy Marsh daughter of Demeter and Samuel Hawkins son of Janus."

The two newcomers stood up from their seats. The girl looked around seeming very uncomfortable with all the attention on her. She had reddish hair and freckles, with grass green eyes. She looked around 13 years old. She waved and sat down quickly. The boy however looked no more than 7 years old, with a mop of brown hair and brown intense eyes. He looked as if he was about to throttle everyone in room which was kind of comical considering everyone here was in their own right a badass fighter but he disappointed by sitting down.

Chiron smiled at them both, his soft brown eyes giving them both an encouraging look. "We welcome both of you here to your new home. Onto other news, we released a few more surprises in the forest. Last summer you heroes had cleared it out quite thoroughly but its very much restocked and much more dangerous than before. So be very careful."

"Capture the Flag!" Someone yelled out from the Ares cabin.

Chiron gave a smile, "Yes yes I am getting to it Nicolas Reid. Now as Nicolas has so kindly reminded me, we have a big game of Capture the Flag after dinner-"

Everyone gave out a large cheer and began pounding their tables. Caspian watched as Alfie tried to control his own cabin but it's not easy getting any child of Hermes to follow the rules. After a few minutes had passed Chiron raised his hand and everyone quieted.

"As I was saying, after dinner, Nike shall lead the blue team while Athena will lead the red team. So everyone enjoy your dinner and afterwards we shall make our way to the forest!" Chiron finished before giving everyone the signal to eat.

Caspian quickly scarfed down his food, almost not stopping to take a breath. He didn't realize he was even this hungry. Maybe if he realized he wasn't homeless anymore and actually could eat entire meals he wouldn't eat like this. He pushed the thought aside and focused on eating. He ignored his roommates throwing food at each other, bickering and their jokes and that was a task only the elite could do. It wasn't like he didn't like his roommates or anything of the sort, but Caspian had found his group of friends and he didn't let that many people in. He learned living on the streets that you could trust no one but that was out there. Elena, Ari and Theo were different though. They formed a friendship right away and they'd always had each others backs. So why would Caspian let anyone else in? Better to keep his circle tight.

As he finished his plate he took a moment to glance over at the Nike table. The table was filled with guys and girls all laughing as they constantly challenged each other in different bets to an all manner of things. The table had around 15 campers. They all laughed and cheered as one of the guys beat a blonde girl in cleaning their plate first. At the head of the table, Mike Donnavan, a burly african-American guy around college age gave a fierce smile and patted one of the younger guys on the back for winning. But what was wrong with that picture wasn't when the girl who lost tried to stab the guy with a fork, nor was it when the guy started flexing his muscles at his victory. At the far end of the table, sitting alone staring out towards the water was Kalin.

The thing that always struck Caspian as odd was that Kalin looked like any other guy. He had long, brown caramel hair that was pulled back into a loose man bun, a few strands lay in his face. His eyes were an ocean blue, slightly swirling as if they were a pool of water churning with the sea. He wore black jeans with an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and a ring on each finger. He had an earring pierced on the top of his right ear, a small silver ring or hoop. He wasn't sure on the terminology. He was muscular but lean, as if he had burned away any form of fat and replaced it with hardened muscles. He had a few scars on his arms but nothing like some of us did. He was seriously good looking, it actually made Caspian look at himself a bit and wonder if people saw him the same way.

He didn't understand how one guy could be so devastating at combat, so… powerful while not having any powers. The guy was intimidating to be sure, his eyes were normally fierce and determined, but sitting here watching him while he wasn't aware of it… he almost looked sad. As if he was suffering greatly. Strange.

Caspian had seen people like him. Ones who people looked up too and then never came back. The best never survive. Caspian learned that quickly. They always think they could do what the other legendary heroes could do. Drunk off of what the Seven did in the Giant wars, or what the camp did in the battle of manhattan, they always died. A waste of talent. And for the first time Caspian understood where Ari came from. Everyone was pretty good but the best always died. And Kalin was going to be no exception.

As the dinner was winding down, most of the campers had finished their food and were eagerly talking about the upcoming game. Chiron stood up and raised his hands again, this time in his Centaur form.

"Heroes! Now that dinner has been served and eaten, get ready and make your way to the forest for the long awaited game of Capture the Flag!"

Everyone began pounding the tables and cheering before scattering off. Caspian watched Kalin stand up slowly, the son of Nike's eyes meeting his own. They locked eyes for a mere moment and what surprised him was that his eyes. They were unbelievably sad.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Caspian

Capture the Flag was the most intense training they had at Camp Half-Blood.

All around Caspian his half-brothers and sisters dressed for war. While normally they were messy and unorganized, when it came to fighting, they were just as good as the Ares cabin at gearing up for battle. Everyone strapped up various kinds of armor, helms and weaponry. Most of them preferred donning light armor with a sword and shield however a varying few had their own unique styles of combat. His sister Bailey for instance preferred to use throwing knives but she did keep a sword at her side just in case. Or how Zach liked to use a trident and net.

By the time everyone was dressed and ready all in their red uniforms, most of the cabins were already making their way down towards the forest.

The Hermes cabin quickly followed those who were wearing red colors, since Athena normally chose red team, to the southern forest where several cabins were already gathered. They were staged just on the southern edge of the forest, with everyone divided up by cabins. A table had been set separately from the main group of campers. Sitting there was what Caspian assumed was the senior counselors of each cabin to hear the plan from the Athena cabin.

The one thing that Caspian always feared about Capture the Flag wasn't the fact that they could fight or harm each other. It was the sheer scale at which they were doing it. Over 250 demigods with their own assortment of powers where duking it out to take the other teams flag. Things got real messy in the forest. In other words, shit gets real and personal very quickly. Caspian was good at hiding, hitting people when they least expected it, or stealing things. Of course, that didn't mean he was bad at combat but still, a forest wasn't his preferred terrain. He grew up in the streets of New York where it was packed and clusterfucked with buildings and people. He knew how to move, blend in, hit and run and disappear in the city like a ghost. But in a forest? He was out of his element. Now that doesn't mean he hasn't tried and of course it hasn't been easy but still… I mean they couldn't build like a replica or something of New York? I mean come on. Caspian let out a sad sigh and pressed onward towards the red team.

By the time the Hermes Cabin arrived, being late as usual to everything, the senior counselors, led by the Athena cabins lead counselor Lexi Bennet, a dark haired, grey eyed beauty with a knack for military strategy and an ego the size of Central Park, were in the heat of discussion for where everyone was going to be.

Alfie put a hand on one of his brothers shoulder, a 15 year old named Bobby, and addressed our cabin, "Alright guys, I'll go see what's up, just stick together until then." And with that he headed towards the meeting.

As Caspian looked around at the rest of his team, he couldn't help but feel impressed and confident with their ability to win. To his left he could see the children of Zeus all donned in their armor, some with etching of a lightning bolt in the shoulders or chest plates, summoning small doses of lighting in preparation or speaking to some of the younger campers to make sure they knew what to do in case they got overwhelmed with everything. He spotted Elena among them, wearing her lightning spear and formidable shield with the etching of twin lightning bolts across it. She saw him staring and gave him a wink before turning back to her siblings. They were a powerful group to have on the field. Most heroes of old were children of Zeus, including some of the modern ones like Thalia and Jason Grace. They were natural leaders and points of focus for some of the younger campers who were new to being a half-blood.

Besides them, the Children of Poseidon all were stretching, and looking eager to get to the river to use it against the blue team. Caspian had seen them use it before and it was a terrifying sight. In a previous game of capture the flag, they had raised the river to a daunting 50 feet and hurled it into the forest, destroying the entire opposing team's center in a single move. Granted the majority of them were completely drained after that but it still served its purpose. He knew they all wanted to be as strong as Percy Jackson, the great hero of the Titan and Giant wars but sometimes he felt like it was a hollow dream. It wasn't like he had it easy from what Caspian gathered.

Regardless, he glanced over towards the children of Hades who had already begun to summon a large group of skeletons, some in roman legionnaire armor, a swath in spartan armor and a lone skeleton with a random animal skin on his head. Roughly an extra 40 more warriors to their side. Caspian couldn't help but smile. And this isn't even to mention the other cabins abilities and gods knows what hidden magic items they had up their sleeves.

The thought of magic items made Caspian kinda sad. He knew so many people with special weapons or unique powers but he didn't really have any of that. Yes he had abilities but he didn't have anything that made him stand out. Okay he didn't really want to stand out but still a guy wanted a cool ass sword or a powerful spear or something. Nope all he got was a shoe over his head saying, "Hey your a son of Hermes! Congrats!".

Perhaps he was being a bit ungrateful but come on. He had a point.

He had been so caught up in everything going on around him that he almost didn't notice the girl approaching him from behind.

"Excited?" the girl said.

Another perk of being the son of Hermes was he was rarely caught off guard. He didn't know why but his passive perception to things, according to Alfie, was significantly higher than most mortals and demigods. Their eyes similar to the Apollo cabins were slightly better than usual.

He turned around expecting to see one of his usual friends but instead was surprised to see someone else.

"Cassandra?" he said surprised not able to hide the shock in his voice.

"Yeah? You excited for the game or what?" She said adding a lovely smile at the end of the question.

The thing about Cassandra was she was the daughter of Apollo and she was very beautiful and kind and sweet and ever so elegant with the way she moved and-

Okay okay so Caspian was a hopeless romantic who thought everyone was beautiful. Leave him alone.

Regardless she never really spoke to Caspian prior to right now, which was throwing him off big time considering she tended to associate with demigods of more powerful caliber. Like the Big Three's children or some of the most stronger members of each cabin. There was nothing wrong with her by any means, it's just… why was she talking to him?

"Uh, yeah I guess. I mean we look like we are going to win," he said nervously, really unsure as to what to say.

"Yeah, I think this is going to go a lot more different than you think. I mean it is Kalin we are going up against. But that aside I didn't come here for idle chit chat."

Oh damn okay. "Gee thanks."

"No no no I didn't mean it like that," she said embarrassed, "I need a favor from you."

He gave her a curious look, "Um, okay. What do you need help you with?"

She looked around first to make sure no one was listening or looking at them before leaning in a bit closer.

"Oh she smells really nice," his heart said to himself.

"Focus!" he scolded his heart.

"And she's pretty too" his heart replied with a joyful toon.

"Do you who Julian D'Harcourt is?" she asked seriously, her beautiful blue eyes staring into his.

He swore if he ever had a chance with this girl, he would be the happiest son of Hermes alive. He internally cursed himself for not asking his dad to make her fall in love with him, although that wasn't his department.

Regardless he did know of who she spoke of. Vaguely.

"Kind of. I know he's a son of Ares. He's got dark hair, a bunch of scars on his arms and stuff right?" He said aloud as he desperately tried to recall anything else he knew about the guy.

He had heard the name before. He was sure of that but as soon as he tried to recall the memory, it disappeared.

"Yeah, I need you to do some digging for me about him. It's super important. I heard you do that kind of stuff right?"

Okay… Yeah he did but like he didn't wanna be known as the guy who could dig up your personal information and stuff if you needed it. I mean that's just creepy and lame. It wasn't hard anyways, he picked up when he was young and would tail some rich fucker who would be walking alone to his car in the Bronx and then steal his wallet or his watch and run off. Still, he wasn't about to say no to her. But payment would definitely be required.

"I mean I can if you want but it will cost you," he said with a shrug, trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

Cassandra ran a hand through her curly blonde hair, letting it sparkle for a moment in the sunlight before thinking a moment.

"I mean I got some drachma or an invisibility bracelet. I already got one from my dad and I actually found one on the way here last year. I always forget I have it but I was gonna give it to one of my friends actually. But you can have it if you can deliver some good information on Julian."

Caspian about shit himself right then and there.

"Invisibility bracelet," He said immediately, "I'll even tell you what size underwear he had in his underwear drawer."

He cursed himself viciously for that comment he just made and begged the god of diplomacy to bless him with the ability to charm a woman.

She took a step back and gave a nervous laugh, "Thanks, but I don't think I need that particular bit of info. Be discreet please!"

With that she turned and headed back towards her cabin, where Caspian could see Ari waiting with the rest of the Apollo cabin. Ari gave him a strange look as he saw Cassandra walking away from him. He raised an eyebrow but turned away redrawing and releasing his bow.

"Why did she want him to spy on a son of Ares? A feud perhaps? And what did she want him to find out? She was super vague." He thought to himself as he watched her leave.

He had a bad feeling that doing this would end up costing him in the end but that invisibility bracelet would be game changing for him. Deep down he was actually kind of angry that she just casually had an extra magic item to just give away. No she forgot she had it, she said.

At this point Alfie was walking over toward the gathered group of Hermes campers. Caspian glanced at Cassandra one more time before turning towards his fellow siblings and joining them again.

Alfie came over with a big grin on his face, "Alright, so we got a good spot in this one guys. We are in the right flank with the Hades cabin leading us, tyche and Hebe following us. We gotta break through their right flank and get the flag. We gotta be careful in case of traps and whatever the Demeter cabin have up their sleeves. Lets win this!"

Everyone gave a cheer, Caspian included before they and their allies rushed towards the right flank. As they gathered they quickly began organizing themselves into lines and ranks. The Hades cabin began shifting their undead warriors to the front rows, with everyone else lining up behind it. Caspian drew his sword and readied his shield. He was slightly worried about the fight ahead, but that quickly faded as the cold rush of battle consumed him.

He closed his eyes and counted down from twenty. He didn't even hear anything until he saw Chiron stroll into the center of the red team's side, his tail swishing nervously. "Pay me attention heroes! This game is to be played to win! I and the satyrs shall be playing as combat medic to make sure no campers die. Please avoid killing campers otherwise there will be repercussions. Fight to win, fight with honor, and good luck. Start at the horn." and with that he rides off into the forest.

"He looked nervous for us…" someone muttered. "As if he knew something we didn't.

That didn't exactly build morale or boost confidence but before Caspian could run away in fear the horn sounded. So the battle had begun.

Caspian surged forward, spreading out a bit to his left to give himself some space. The undead were leading with the Hades cabin just behind them, just in case any traps or nasty surprises were to pop out it was better for them to hit the undead. The blue team had the Hephaestus cabin at their disposal so they couldn't be too careful. Gods knows what they had up their sleeve. Behind them the Hermes cabin filled up as the vanguard, with Tyche and Hebe behind them.

They slowly spread out as a whole, leaving some 5-6 feet between each person as they closed in on the river. As they reached the river's edge, everyone slowly formed into a phalanx. Everyone raised their shields and readied themselves for any sort of attack.

But nothing came.

It was silent except for the occasional howl in the depths of the forest. Everyone looked around nervously, the undead just chattered in place speaking a language of nothing but death and shadow. Normally this was the clashing point in a capture the flag game or at least you could see the other team but there was nothing ahead but the forest.

The head of the Hades cabin, a pale, dark haired guy named Ethan Salad, (yes, his last name is salad leave him alone) glanced over towards Alfie, who took off his helm and looked over towards the other two cabin leaders who shrugged.

"Press on then, but keep your eyes peeled," Ethan warned before stepping off into river, his body sinking to his knees before pushing onto the other side.

Caspian had a very bad feeling about advancing but they couldn't just sit in the back and wait. I mean they had the numerical advantage so why not use their numbers to their advantage? Still he felt as if the forest was darkening around him, where normally sunlight shone through the canopy now was covered by the trees lush woods, obscuring any sort of light except for the shadows lurking below. The very forest itself was dense and almost unmaneuverable, thickened by vines and thorns. It was as if the forest itself was inviting them in to be swallowed by the darkness.

They pushed forward onto the far right path that led towards Zeus's fist, where they knew Nike cabin would have hidden the flag, they separated like they did before but this time warily. Caspian exchanged a glance with Bailey, his half sister who gave him a worried look. He gave her a nod of confidence, as well as confidently as a nod could be, which he hoped would soothe a bit.

"It's quiet… I don't hear anything," someone said to his right, a red headed guy who looked roughly 17 or 18.

Caspian tried to listen for fighting anywhere across the forest but surprisingly he couldn't hear any sounds of a fighting going on anywhere. That seriously worried him. It was as if the forest itself was swallowing all noise and light.

They slowly traversed the forest, pushing ever so slowly, everyone looking all around them for any sign of their foes. But nothing came. It was ever silent.

"Something is very wrong here. Its getting darker than Tartarus in this forest. I can't see anything," Alfie said ahead of him.

They were all spread out down this single path, majority of the forest covered in thick brush with thorns or dense vines. Which was strange considering he didn't think the forest was normally this thick or had this much brush. It kind of reminded him of the Demeter cabin's brush where they would have the satyrs help them thicken the forestry around their-

Then it hit him, but it was far too late.

As Zeus's fist came into view, Ethan smiled and everyone began to surge forwards. But the moment they tried rushing towards the flag, a wall of Greek Fire erupted in the open clearing of the forest, created a defensive barrier around Zeus's fist. The undead who were leaving the vanguards were immediately set ablaze. Most were vaporized immediately but some were set on fire and took some time before falling. Ethan stumbled back in shock, looking around to any sign that they could pass beyond the ring of fire. He growled in frustration.

"What the hell? Did they fill a trench with greek fire? That's ridiculous! Where are they-"

He never finished that thought a rope suddenly visible by the light of the flames appears around his foot which hurled him up in the canopy above. He gave a terrified scream before vanishing.

But he wasn't the only one.

A chorus of screams erupted as a series of traps suddenly activated across the floor, ripping campers away into the dense brush of the forest. The Vines from the trees, which had created the path for them to go on suddenly came to life, grabbing campers and wrapping them to the trees or tying them up.

Caspian quickly backed away as a vine snaked across the grass towards him. He waited for it to close in before he sliced in half, causing it to go limp. He quickly retreated towards the back of the group, while many of the Hermes cabin were rushing towards the wall in hopes of getting past it but realizing it was futile before being ripped away.

Caspian spotted Alfie who was gathering as many of his team as possible to centralize in a circle together. He had maybe 30 or so campers trying to group up, the rest were either missing or being tied up by the vines. He rushed over, jumping over vines and already set off traps. They still didn't see any blue team soldiers yet but he knew they had to be close.

"We have to fall back and regroup, this ambush is too well planned. Where the hell is the blue team?!" Alfie growled in anger, before turning around towards where the river was. "Fall back! Together!"

Everyone turned around, eager to get out of the predicament they were in, but they got their answer as to where the blue team was hiding. In the brush that divided each of the flanks, Caspian watched as a large contingent of blue campers come out of the forest, the trees and brushes moving aside to let them pass, and formed a phalanx behind them, cutting off their escape. There easily over 30 of them.

"Uh… Alfie?" a younger Tyche girl said, "I think I found them."

Alfie swore so heavily Caspian would never forget it.

"Run Alfie, or get skewered," a young guy said as he stepped out.

"Ishida you can't beat me and you know it," Alfie said with a smirk.

The man now revealed as Ishida gave a shrug before slipping back into the lines. Children of Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.

For a tense 10 seconds nothing happened, the sounds of battle raging to their right. It seemed like for a moment nothing would happen. Then the blue team hurled javelins at them, a few finding their mark and knocking several campers unconscious. They gave a yell before rushing at them. They gave a yell in return before charging them back.

Caspian however was not a man of open conflict and instead faced towards where the center fight would be to their right. As he rushed towards the forest edge he was surprised to discover the brush had opened up a path, revealing the center fight.

"Uh guys, we can get out this-" he stopped mid-way as he realized most of his allies were in the heat of battle or either unconscious. Great.

Alfie was fighting with Ishida who was very much losing against Alfie's must stronger form. Ishida swung his blade towards his right shoulder, but Alfie easily parried it and kicked Ishida back, knocking him on his ass. As he tried to quickly get back up, Alfie slammed his shield into his face, knocking him clean out. Alfie smiled before noticing the path behind Caspian.

"Rally towards Caspian! Quickly!" He yelled right as another blue camper rushed towards him.

Several of Caspians team quickly disengaged and rushed towards him, but not many, 15 at most, and Alfie wasn't here. But they couldn't wait any longer.

"To the center! Come on!" Caspian yelled as he rushed towards the center conflict.

Everything was going to shit. Right as they got into the central area of the blue team's forest, which was actually an openish glade of sorts, the way they passed through resealed, effectively cutting them off from the rest of their allies, Alfie included, on the right flank. But they had bigger problems than that at the moment. On the other side of the glade, beyond the central conflict, it appears, the Athena cabin and her cohorts ran into the same disaster as he did and had flooded into the center as well. Lexi stumbled ahead of her group, her helm missing and her hair was covered in dirt and sticks. She didn't even notice the vines and thorns resealing behind her.

But what stunned Caspian the most was how the Nike cabin with the Ares campers had essentially routed or beaten the entire center assault group. The children of Zeus still fought, their weapons humming with electricity, desperately holding them back. He spotted Elena, her armor dented in some places, her spear humming with electricity, she raised her spear to the sky and let out a yell as a bolt of lightning shot to the tip of her spear. With a single thrust she let it out and it slammed into the ground in front of two Ares campers who fell to the ground in shock. She rushed forward and thrust her spear in one of the campers arms rendering helpless. The other staggering to his feet, his body shaking with fear or anger Caspian wasn't sure, his Elena kicked him in the head knocking him unconscious. But there were too many Nike and Ares campers and not enough of the red side. Aphrodite's, and Iris's campers were nowhere to be seen, or were unconscious. Barely 6 of them still fought against over 20. But now they had the combined remaining left and right flanks at their disposal. And something that both worried and gladdened him was he didn't see Kalin.

Strange.

"Crush them quickly!" Lexi yelled as her group gave a battle cry and rushed towards the Ares and Nike campers. Instead of being surprised at the sudden arrival of the red cloaked soldiers, they qucikly attempted to fall back, letting themselves get pushed back. Caspian had to cut them off.

"Cut them off! Don't let them fall back!" Caspian commanded.

His side gave a bellowing battle cry and rushed towards the flank of the blue campers.

Caspian wasn't ashamed to say he crouched to the side of the forest edge and tried to sneak his way towards the blue team's flag. He wasn't a mainstream fighter. He just wasn't that guy, but he could sneak around and possibly grab the blue team's flag.

He made his way forward, keeping low to the shadows of the forest, towards the greek wall of fire which was actually 1/4th of its original size. Perhaps it wasn't permanent? If he could wait for it to die down, he could rush right over it and possibly seize the flag and rush back to his side. So he got as close as he could to the fire while staying hidden in the forests trees and waited.

To Caspian it was a good plan.

But like all things, it went to shit.

Right as Caspian got comfortable, keeping an eye on the center conflict which was actually going in his teams favor, he got a strange chill down his spine. An ominous feeling. He glanced at the fire but couldn't see beyond it. What lurked beyond it.

The Nike and Ares cabin suddenly began to break and flee towards the wall of fire. Behind them Lexi and her allies were chasing after them, hurling javelins and nets to try and snag as many as they could, but only three fell. They couldn't get far however as the fire cut them off. They were stuck. Caspian turned around grinning, eagerly waiting to see how high the fire still stood.

To Caspian's surprise it had actually burned out and he hadn't been paying attention.

For Fuck sake.

He could see the blue team's flag, flying on top of Zeus's Fist, high and proud. He could make a break for it, and easily scale those rocks. It would take him probably 4 minutes. But Caspian never got the chance to move.

A voice rang out across the forest, comforting and sweet. It reminded him of the softest whisper caressing his mind.

SLEEP

Suddenly half of red team fell the ground snoring. The other half stumbled to their knees, yawning and desperately trying to stay awake. Caspian gave a yawn himself and suddenly realized that the green grass and dirt floor was the best bed for him and almost laid down but a memory stopped him.

Theo's warning from dinner, warning him about the Hypnos cabin actually playing in this game jarred him awake, shaking off the sleepy stupor. He stood up and began a light jog towards the flag, where the rest of the blue team had assembled. There were maybe 35 of them strong. Lexi and her 20 some warriors rallied themselves to face them. Outnumbered but not disheartened.

They were the most rag tag group of fighters, he had ever seen. Most were dirty and filthy from the ambush earlier. Some were missing pieces of their armor, and their shields in some cases. They looked like a militia rather than children of the gods.

"Lexi, I see you finally made it," A voice rang out among the blue team.

Lexi stepped forward, her face curled into a sneer, "Show yourself, do not hide behind-"

Her voice faltered as Kalin walked through the ranks of his team. His armor was silver, etched with a torch on the front, as he approached Lexi, Caspian could barely make out twin wings on the back of his armor. He wore no helm. His twin blades gleaming in each hand, their silver etched words impossible to miss in Ancient Greek.

On his left blade it read:

"Eleos"

And his right blade read:

"Kakia"

He bore Mercy and Malice in his hands, the enigma himself had arrived.

Lexi stared at him with a fury in her eyes, her plan had gone to shit and everyone knew nothing pissed off the Athena cabin more than when their plans were ruined.

"I suggest you all surrender," Kalin said simply, his left blade pointing to them all. "If you wish to fight I can promise you that you will all fall. I don't wish for this. Behind you, standing on the river's edge is the rest of my team, having already crushed the Apollo cabin defending it."

Caspian and everyone else turned around. And true to his word the blue teams that had remained on the left and right flanks had swarmed the red teams flag and stood on the river's edge, the children of Poseidon on the ground beaten and unconscious. An embarrassing sight. They had been completely been outmaneuvered, played and beaten.

Lexi whirled around and pointed her sword at him.

"You think you are special because you can fight well? You are-"

"Not Annabeth Chase Lexi. You try so hard to be just like her, but you are not. And your pride cost you," Kalin said simply, his hair pulled back into its usual man bun. He looked sad, as if pitied them.

No one spoke. No one moved. Lexi looked as if she was about to fight him herself when of all the people who stepped forward, Elena pointed her spear at him.

"I'll face you," Elena said confidently. She looked at Kalin as if she had already won. Children of Zeus's biggest weakness. Overconfidence. Everyone watched with interest, everyone knew Elena was good, she was the best of her siblings, and her lightning abilities were some of the best Caspian had seen. She was very good. He had seen her fight several times, so why was he so worried? Kalin wasn't that good was he?

Kalin looked at her sadly for but a moment before his face was devote of emotion. He took several steps back letting her approach. Elena readied her spear and shield and marched out before sliding herself into a ready stance. Kalin raised both of his blades in a whirling spin but didn't move.

For ten tense seconds no one moved, they stood there watching each other.

What happens next happened so quick it was as if it never even happened.

Elena suddenly raised her spear, causing a lighting bolt to strike it, she aimed it straight towards Kalin. He didn't move, watching the whole ordeal.

Right as she let the bolt of lightning fire, he rushed forward and slid clean under the under it, before coming up into a run right in front of her. He slammed his hilt right in her temple, knocking her to the floor.

It was over in less than 10 seconds.

Everyone watched stunned. Caspian felt his sword drop to the ground. Lexi and 3 others gave out a cry and rushed forward, determined to end Kalin once and for all. Lexi swung towards Kalin's head, but he easily ducked and kneed her in her stomach, causing her to fall to the ground. He twirled around and parried the 1st red camper, before stabbing his right blade into his thigh causing him to fall. The other two rushed forward, but Kalin kicked one in the chest knocking him back and easily disarmed and knocked out the third with a simple face hit.

Lexi staggered to her feet and looked at him angrily, her face streaming with tears. "I hate you!" she bellowed, but unbeknownst to her the blue team across the river stepped across, signally the victory.

The Horns blew, and the blue team cheered.

Kalin looked at Lexi sadly, "Ready for Anything, In Omnia Paratus. I suggest you learn Latin."

Chiron rode out and the campers began to gather up those wounded. Most would cheer or complain about the battle that had just occurred. But they wouldn't get far as a roar could be heard throughout the entire forest, powerful and terrifying.

No one moved.

Everyone looked around.

The most ironic thing was about to occur because no one was ready for what was about to come.

They had just restocked the forest. But they would put something that could roar that loud in the camps forest right?

"Demigods of various gods, I do hope you survive this little test I have put together. It was not easy to obtain such a creature. I hope you can prove up to the challenge, will the Klemmata prevail? Will the Blood of Aeacides prove as worthy of his ancestors? We shall see. NOW ENTERTAIN ME!" a voice out above them.

Caspian looked up to see the camp director Mr. D floated far above the tree tops in a beach chair with a diet coke in his hand. The fat bastard wanted a show.

They figured out what his little test was soon enough. To the far left the trees cracked and ripped open as another roar suddenly rang out, louder and more powerful than before.

Somewhere left behind in the left flank, someone gave a horrible scream before it was cut short.

"DRAKON!" someone yelled right as a giant, slithery beast with massive green eyes and thick powerful legs broke through the tree ranks.

A Lydian Drakon had entered the fray. And Caspian was confident they were all going to die.

Hey guys, so I'm still super rusty with writing, I know it's obvious, give me more time to get adjusted and a bit better please. I do hope you guys enjoy this so far. I thought id go ahead and get an early battle started but trust me, so many characters and their relationships are coming up, each character (except Caspian are fucking amazing). Next POV is Cassandra, Daughter of Apollo. PLEASE COMMENT, LIKE, REVIEW! It makes more 190% more determined to continue!


	3. Chapter 3

The Price of Demigods

3

Cassandra 

Cassandra was beginning to understand the resentment towards the gods.

She knew that fighting monsters was a part of being a demigod. You had to accept that. It was their job to train to defeat monsters. Yes, they had games where they had to fight them, but those were under careful planning and practiced scenarios to ensure that deaths wouldn't happen but still dangerous. Cassandra had a feeling this meant to push them to their limit. However, there would be a few deaths this time.

She was still making her way over the river, aiding those she could when she heard Mr. D's voice echo across the field.

She looked up and heard the cracking of trees, the whine of the wood as they broke and creaked with pain. She was far the beast that approached, but she felt as if it was right on top.

Suddenly a massive lizard bodied beast slithered into the field, leaving behind it a path of crushed trees and dirt. It was giant shining eyes and a dark body. Its teeth were razor-sharp, and its claws were beyond anything she had seen before. Each was the length of an SUV.

"DRAKON!!!" Someone yelled as it gave an ear-splitting scream that forced Cassandra to her knees.

She covered her ears and desperately tried to form a coherent thought but found she couldn't. She wasn't sure how long she sat there, her limbs shaking with fear, and her chest tight with anxiety. She had no idea what to do; it was too much for her to deal with when all she had was a bow. It wasn't until Ari appeared that shook her from her paralysis.

"Cassie! Are you okay? We have to stop that thing. It's going to start hurting people," He said quickly, his long blonde hair, slightly matted with blood and dirt. He had a dark bruise around his left cheekbone and a cut on his chest. He had gotten touched up for sure.

"Uh… yeah, I...uh… yeah, let's do it," she stammered out.

Ari gave her a sidelong glance and slipped his hand into hers. It was warm and comforting.

"We'll be alright, Cassie, but we gotta focus on killing that thing, yeah?" He said softly, his voice as soft as silk. "I know you are scared; I know that fear. It's all-consuming, but we have to get out there. We are the archers, the medics. They need us. They won't live without us."

Cassandra could see the Drakon spew acid towards two campers who were dragging away two other unconscious half-bloods. They began screaming as their skin and bodies burned. They fell and finally fell silent. She could see the blue and red team forming a desperate defense, hurling arrows and weapons towards the beasts hide.

"Target their eyes!" She could hear Lexi command as she ran through their ranks, "Blind it! Force it back!"

The beast wasn't going to slow. It ran its claws towards the bulk of the campers and tore the earth in front of them, sending several demigods scattered across the field.

She wanted the throw-up. It had become a massacre, so many were laying on the ground, a few campers were trying to get the hordes of wounded half-bloods from the forest far away from the fight.

"I have to get down there," She thought to herself.

"Okay, do you have any special arrows?" She asked quickly, her hands feeling into her quiver. She had three regular arrows and a flash arrow. Not very helpful, but it was something.

Ari shook his head, "Just two Sonic arrows, and I doubt that'll help when it shrieks louder than it emits."

Cassandra could see Lexi pointing for Julian and three other Ares cabin members to hit its eyes; they struggled to throw that high. It needed to fall down or at least get its head low.

"Come on, let's see what we can do!" She said as she ran across the river and towards the battle, right towards Lexi.

All around her, campers were lying on the ground, injured or unconscious. Many were in harm's way; many nymphs and nature spirits were fading as the drakon destroyed their life sources. Some were helping in moving campers. Off to her side, Chiron was yelling at Mr. D.

"You can't just have a Drakon attack the camp! Training or not, it's unsafe! You've caused the death of nymphs, and beyond that, you've killed campers. I won't stand for this!" Chiron yelled, his face red and sweaty. However, Mr. D looked at him with little interest.

But Cassandra couldn't focus on that now. As she closed in on Lexi, she was bleeding from her nose. Her hair was everywhere, her clothes burnt and torn in several places.

"Lexi! I have a flash arrow; maybe we can blind it!" She said immediately before the Athena cabin leader even turned around.

The Drakon let out another shattering earth shriek, and everyone grabbed their ears in pain.

"WHAT?" Lexi yelled over to her.

"I HAVE A FLASH ARROW! MAYBE WE CAN BLIND IT!" She repeated, her voice quiet despite the fact she was yelling.

She let go of her ears and looked at the ragtag group of campers who struggled to stave off the massive beast on the cusp of breaking through their fragile defense line.

"Where is Kalin?" She asked as she looked around and saw everyone, even Caspian, surprisingly not sneaking or hiding like he sometimes did.

Lexi shrugged hopelessly, "He ran right when it appeared. He's a coward. I don't care how good he can fight. He's a coward in the end."

Cassandra frowned but readied her arrow.

"Cover your eyes!!" Lexi yelled right as Cassandra let the arrow loose and exploded a bright white light.

The Drakon flailed and shrunk back into the forest a bit. It's head low as its eyes blinked rapidly to see. The campers surged forward. Hacking at its arms and legs, even throwing some weapons into the beast's eyes, but none penetrated. Soon they realized the futility of the task and backed away as the creature recovered and snarled.

Elena was at her left side, her spear missing, gasping for air. Julian and Lexi were on her right, both tired and hurt. Ari and Caspian stood behind her. She felt hopelessness overcome her. They were too expent and drained while it was still fresh.

"We are doomed," Lexi whispered.

None dared question her.

As the campers around them watched the Drakon rise up, getting ready for another spray of acid, no one ran, no one could. They were exhausted.

Suddenly a flash of white-streaked across the sky and impaled the Drakon on the side of its head.

A Pegasi.

And on its back rode Kalin, his caramel brown hair behind him flying in the breeze.

Everyone gave a cheer as he catapulted off the Pegasi and landed on the beast's head, driving both blades into its skull. The Drakon flailed and waved its head left and right, trying to get him off but to no avail. However, it didn't look like it was done fighting.

It was then another Pegasi flew into the fray and shot a beam of purple into the side of its head, knocking the Drakon back, parts of its facial hide burning and melting away.

"Yeah, you like acid so much lemme show you acid!" Theo yelled from the back of the flying Pegasi.

Cassandra suddenly felt a burst of energy and yelled, "Charge! Kill the beast!"

Everyone gave a cheer and surged forward.

Theo kept firing beams of magical acid at the Drakon while Kalin stabbed into its skull, tearing its armor off to get to its skin, while spears and blades hurled and penetrated the massive Drakon.

Finally, Kalin gave a mighty yell and stabbed the beast clean through its armor and skin. The creature shuddered and stumbled before falling over onto its side and slowly dissolved.

Everyone gave a halfhearted cheer. Most were too tired as the adrenaline faded even to stand and collapsed on the spot. Cassandra's limbs were shaking with exhaustion, but she forced herself to make her way towards where Kalin fell and found him standing among the beast's scales.

He touched its surface gently, his gaze soft and vulnerable. He looked sad. He noticed Cassandra, and immediately his face became his usual disinterested look.

"How many more must die for the gods?" Kalin muttered as he stood over a melted, orange Camp Half-blood shirt.

Cassandra felt tears well up in her eyes as she watched Kalin crouched down and picked up the melted shirt. His face was furious.

She was about to say something when Ari, who was with Elena, Theo, and Caspian. Only Julian was there with them. Chiron and the nymphs were administering nectar and ambrosia to every camper. There had been losses that much was certain. The only question was, how many were dead?

She held it in as long as she could—the harshness of the world of being a demigod, The bitterness of the gods. She sat down right there and cried. She bawled as hard as she could when Ari came and slipped his hand into hers. He was the best brother she ever had. She was grateful he was there. But it wasn't enough to elevate the pain she was feeling.

How many did they lose?

Cassandra watched as ten shrouds were burning in the amphitheater.

It was a solemn ceremony. Chiron gave an impactful speech about sacrifice and how dangerous our lives were. He was angry, rather than mournful, which was an ominous sign. She wondered how the argument with Mr. D went.

The thought of Mr. D infuriated her beyond belief. The fat lazy bastard had sent the drakon onto them, knowing they were all tired and wounded from a brutal battle to capture the flag. She didn't care what kind of test he felt they deserved. It was because of him that campers were dead. Plus, he wasn't even at the funeral!

She knew there were rumors of discontent among several demigods about the gods and treated their children. She was starting to wonder herself. Of the gods, Apollo was their chief advocate, a loyalist towards the demigod cause since his banishment to being mortal. But rumor has it the gods are angry at their children of the big seven due to some quest after Apollo, something happened she knew that much. Perhaps she would ask Chiron or even have Caspian investigate it. He was good at garnering information.

The thought of Caspian made her blush at the idea of her request from before. She knew it was a weird request to spy on Julian, but it was for a friend! One of her sisters named Nikki had a crush and wanted to ask him out. So she decided to help.

"Still, though… it was weird to spy on him," she thought to herself.

She was shaken from her thoughts when Elena leaned over and whispered into her ear, "Holy Gods, Mr. D is walking in…"

Suddenly a chorus of an uproar could be heard as Mr. D entered the theater and raised a hand. Surprisingly everyone quieted.

"You are all angry at me for the Drakon incident," he began as his eyes bored over the crowd.

"You killed Shane!" A voice yelled out.

"Callum is dead because of your surprise!!" Another bellowed out.

Suddenly everyone began yelling at once, the names of the fallen: Roger, Izult, Garn, etc.

Mr. D listened to every name before he raised a hand, his voice bellowed, "SILENCE!"

The crowd slowly ebbed into silence, but the rage was very much there. Cassandra could feel Elena's body next to her shaking with what she assumed was anger as her stormy eyes were fiercely glaring towards the camp director.

Ari leaned over to her and whispered into her ear, "I'm pissed off just like the next guy, but I don't like this. Something isn't right, Cassie."

She looked at him, unsure as to what he was getting at but only nodded as Mr. D suddenly spoke out, "You demigods have grown lax in your duties. We cannot solve every problem, and many remain after the Titan and Giant wars. The Roman Emperors Incident has caused far more issues, then we realized. Yet as is your duty to fight and defend the gods, you'd rather complain that you live a dangerous life. You have grown weak and pathetic in your recent years, and with the upcoming events now rapidly approaching, you will need to prepare. So I will be in charge of all camp activities instead of Chiron as of immediately."

There was stunned silence before people began yelling. However, Mr. D began to speak this time; his voice amplified, "SILENCE! Or the next camper to interrupt me shall be forced to handle my next surprise monster by themselves."

There was silence.

Elena looked like she was about to speak when Caspian leaned down from behind them and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't tempt him. Please."

Elena shot him an angry look but bit her bottom lip and nodded.

Theo sat on her opposite side and leaned over, "Things are going to be very interesting in the next few weeks."

She agreed; however, she was more worried about the campers that would do something about it.

Mr. D spoke this time, his voice louder, "Now, we will be having duels, monster hunts with no safety, ocean battles with sea monsters that Poseidon will provide-"

"Why?" A voice suddenly spoke out.

Mr. D raised an eyebrow towards the voice.

Cassandra looked behind her and could see Kalin slowly making his way down the steps.

"Why what, Drakon-Slayer? You, of all people, shouldn't have a problem with killing. You are proficient in it," Mr. D said with a maddening smile.

Kalin stared at him with defiance apparent on his face, as if it wasn't a god, he was challenging.

" One of the dead today was a child. He was eight years old. Only a madman would be brushing that aside to push young kids to fight their battles. But you are the god of madness, after all. "

It was so quiet that a pin could be heard if dropped.

Dionysus approached him very slowly, "Madman? Oh, I can arrange that boy. Do you think you are special? You know nothing of what comes. You aren't ready."

Kalin made his way down the steps and into the stage where the god of wine and madness stood and stared into the eyes.

"I won't let you kill these kids. They don't have anywhere else to go. They aren't your janissaries to train and use. They are people. Kids," Kalin said defiantly.

At that moment, he looked every bit the leader people made him out to be. He stood tall, beautiful even. His eyes fierce, his poise strong and ready to move at a moment's notice.

Suddenly behind her, someone stood up.

Julian.

"I stand with Kalin. We aren't meant to be used and disposed of if we fail. We aren't your private army," he said viciously.

And with that, every camper stood up. All ready to fight at that moment for Kalin and their freedom. Every single one of them.

Dionysus nodded slowly and let out a cruel smile, "Then when you all lay among ash and death, remember I tried to prepare you for what comes. Will the Klematta prevail? I very much doubt it."

And with a swirl of purple vines and light which everyone looked away from, he was gone.

Holy Gods, what just happened?


	4. Chapter 4

Camp is Miserable

4

Cassandra

**Cassandra had begun to despise Camp Half-Blood.**

It had been four days since the Drakon attack in the forest. Chiron had returned to Olympus to have a meeting with the gods and yet to return. Mr. D has been in charge and has pushed everyone to their limit. He called in dozens and dozens of monsters to be placed in the woods and even some to "surprise" everyone at random times.

"You should always be vigilant," he told us as we finished slaying a group of Dracanae during dinner his first day as camp director. They just appeared from the beach and injured two campers before they died.

Most campers were too scared to directly challenge Mr. D as he'd threatened to have anyone who had a problem facing a hydra alone in the arena. It silenced most people. But not all.

Kalin questioned his every move. He spoke out more and more during every test and challenge they faced. During the Cyclops fight in the forest yesterday, a group of fifteen campers was getting their butts kicked. More than half had seriously injured themselves before Kalin and Julian had intervened. Mr. D was furious and even threatened to have them whipped. Of course, that didn't stop them.

In Mr. D's test for a small group of half-bloods to stop a group of harpies, three of the group had gotten injured. One of the campers almost died until Kalin intervened with some of the Apollo cabin. Mr. D's head was red with fury; Cassandra thought it was going to burst. He told Kalin if he intervened again, he would give him a test for him to complete alone.

The sun had barely begun to touch the ocean's edge when Cassandra woke. Her sleep had been good enough, although he felt a bit lightheaded. She rolled out of bed before she could get comfortable again and quietly slipped over towards the door. She didn't want to wake any of her siblings. They could get super cranky in the morning. She noticed that Ari's bed was empty.

"_He is probably getting some early practice in,"_ she thought to herself.

The thought of Ari made her think of how much they looked alike. Something that always surprised Cassandra was how each cabin looked different in appearance. If they lined up, you couldn't point to any cabin and say, "oh yeah, that's the Aphrodite family!"

But the Apollo cabin resembled their father so much it was off-putting. Almost everyone had blonde hair and blue eyes. They were all tall and lean while still retaining the athletic qualities of being a half-blood. They were the only cabin that looked like siblings.

No one seemed to be awake yet other than Ari so that hopefully meant that the showers were clear. Unless the Aphrodite cabin had managed to get there first, they sometimes got up super early to take extra long showers.

She opened the door to her cabin and stepped out into the chill air outside. Mr. D can change the camp's temperature, and it seemed it was going to be a dark day. The sky was cloudy, and the sea was restless. The clouds' darkness already covered the sun, and the day set into a state of shadow. She turned her gaze to the showers and could see barely any steam coming out of the top. That was a good sign. She raced over and was about to head into the girl's side when she saw Ari walking out of the boy's side.

He looked mildly surprised to see her but gave her a warm smile. "Hey Cassie," he said, still drying his hair with a towel.

Ari's wavy blonde hair fell just above his shoulders, his shoulder tanned and broad with muscles from archery. He was an attractive guy, and she could see why the girls gossiped about him.

"Hey," she replied, stifling a yawn. "Dreary day, huh?"

Ari looked up at the sky, and the sea before his face grew into a slightly worried expression. "Yeah, it seems Mr. D isn't in a good mood, and it's only dawn."

Cassie rubbed her face, trying to let the stress of Mr. D's newfound leadership drain away.

"Make sure you are ready for the hellhounds today. The Apollo cabin has to work on attacking things that are quick on their feet. Of course, we will be in danger, so let's pray it goes well," Ari reminded her as he began to make his way to their cabin.

Cassandra groaned.

She had forgotten about their test today. So much had happened in the last week; she felt like she had a double schedule of stuff to do. Living on the edge of constant fear and anxiety was wearing on her. Not to mention, the younger campers were terrified of everything going on.

It wasn't like she hadn't been put in danger before. She was a demigod. Of course, she'd faced monsters. It was the unpredictable nature of Mr. D's tests, as well as his lack of empathy, whether or not a half-blood died. It was overall a stress weight that was sitting on her chest. Tensions were so high that she wasn't sure what was going to happen.

She quickly got into the shower and let the hot steam and water wash away her problems. She stayed longer than usual before rapidly drying off and getting dressed.

She got into some athletic wear shorts and a white tank top before tying her hair into a tight ponytail. She wanted to get some early training in. If things were going to get hard, she tried to prepare.

She wasn't a bad fighter. She happily would admit that she was around average. She hoped to change that. She was good at archery, but not as good as Ari. She could heal but not as good as some of her siblings. One thing she was adept at was singing. She could change the pitch of her voice to be high and powerfully piercing. Monsters tended to get staggered with the effect. She could soothe her enemies into a trance if she wanted too. It came in handy from time to time. But she didn't want to feel behind people like Elena or Julian. She wanted to be at least useful in the frontline.

She made her way down to the beach and began a two-mile run. It would be a good start.

Cassandra used up most of her morning running, stretching, practicing her swordplay, and even going as far as attempting the rock climbing wall.

By the time the camp was in full swing, she had already had a complete workout.

Most of the campers were making their way to breakfast when she finished her second shower. She quickly made her way to her table with her siblings and sat down beside Ana's cabin leader.

Ana had short blonde hair, an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt with sleeves rolled up, jean shorts, and a pair of white running shoes. She was twenty this year. She decided against the college in New Rome when her older sister died in a skirmish on the field of Mars. A ballista hit an eagle when she was injured and dropped her. She landed on her head and died on the spot. She was visiting apparently. Rumor has it that Ana blames the Romans.

"Hey, Cass- oh gods, you look tired. What have you been up to?" Ana inquired as Cassandra sat down.

Cassandra was rubbing out knots in her calves, not that she could even feel her legs mind you. Her body felt as if it had been ragdolled around the camp and left out to dry. She was exhausted, thirsty, and dying of hunger.

" Yeah, I was working out pretty early today. I'm beat," she managed as her hands shook from lack of energy.

Ana put a hand on her shoulder," eat, and get some rest. I'll cover for you if anyone asks. We are going to need you for the hellhounds later."

Cassandra nodded right as eggs, bacon, sausage, bread, and other breakfast delights were delivered to the table. Everyone quickly scraped a portion of their food to the gods before digging in and chatting about the upcoming events. Cassandra gave her sausages and some of her eggs inside the pyre, which glowed a bit.

"Father, help us with the gods. Don't let this hatred ensue. I miss you. A lot," she prayed, her heart surprisingly tight with emotion.

She quickly went back to her seat and began digging into her food and devouring as much as she could. She downed two water glasses and scarfed three strips of bacon onto some cheesy eggs right as pancakes were delivered.

"Jesus, Cassie, slow down a bit. It's not going anywhere," Ana laughed as she took her time with her meal.

"Sorry, I'm just famished. I haven't worked that hard in a while. I pushed myself pretty hard," she replied, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"Well, choking to death would be a poor way for a demigod to go," Ana mused.

Cassandra and Ana finished their breakfast heartily. They talked a bit about how the camp's state was seemingly dangerous, how best to deal with the younger campers. What to do about the half-bloods who seemed eager to do something about Mr. D. They had no idea how to handle any of these problems. Still, they were going to have to try their best.

"Hey, do you know what Mr. D meant when he proclaimed something about Klemmamaa or something like that prevailing?" Ana inquired suddenly, setting her fork and napkin over her finished plate.

Cassandra looked over towards the head table and could see Mr. D downing a Diet Coke in large gulps. He had on tight purple athletic wear pants with a bright purple wife beater and a tank top underneath it. His eyes were wide and red as if he hadn't slept in days. She shuddered at the sight of him and felt a twinge of fear in her chest. She looked away and thought back to the drakon fight and tried to remember what Mr. D said. She knew it was an important clue but couldn't think of what word he used nor what it could mean.

"I have no idea. But he wouldn't say it idly. Plus, he has been saying Kalin isn't ready for what is to come. What's that supposed to mean?" She asked as Ana frowned.

She was quiet for a moment before answering. "I don't know, but we do know something is coming. Kalin is involved somehow, so it would be best to find out if he knows anything."

Cassandra nodded, "Then, I'll go ask him after breakfast."

As if listening, Mr. D sluggishly stood up and waved a hand. "Alright, breakfast is over! Go to your activities! Remember, the Apollo cabin has a big test today. So meet in the training arena today at 4 o'clock!."

All of the campers headed off quickly to their respective activities for the day. Right as Cassandra was about to head over towards Kalin, a hand grabbed her. She turned around quickly and was surprised to see Nikki, one of her siblings, standing awkwardly behind her.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" Cassandra said quickly, trying to mask her urgency to getaway.

"Hey Cassie, I was just wondering if you found out anything about Julian," she said in a low voice, her body was kind of awkwardly shuffling in place. She was always a shy girl, and despite being seventeen, she was rather petite, her blonde hair fell about mid-back, and was very soft-spoken. Cassie had her doubts that a Son of Ares, especially one as aggressive as Julian, would take an interest in her. Not that she wasn't pretty enough, but she was too timid. She wasn't sure but kept her thoughts to herself.

Cassandra hadn't received anything from Caspian since she'd given him the assignment, but she did forget in all honesty. She did give him her extra invisibility bracelet, which he freaked out over, so he was probably doing it. She should've been more attentive.

"I have someone close to Julian right now, so I'll get back to you soon, okay?" Cassandra said with a smile.

Nikki shuffled for a moment before smiling, "okay, thanks, Cassie. You are the best!" With that, she ran out of the pavilion to catch up with her other siblings.

Cassandra drew a breath before looking around for Kalin. The pavilion had mostly emptied, and she wasn't sure what Nike's schedule was for the day.

_"Better ask someone," _she thought to herself.

She ran over to a sandy-haired guy named Warren Wang, an older son of Athena, and an all-around good dude. He was just about to leave the pavilion when Cassandra grabbed his arm.

"Hey Warren, you got a second?" She asked quickly.

Warren gave her a warm smile, his eyes never leaving hers. "For you? Anything. What's up?"

Cassandra was taken aback by his reply but shrugged it off, "Oh, uh, do you know where the Nike cabin is right now?"

Warren rubbed his neck and thought for a moment, "I think they might be at the beach right now. I think! I'm not entirely sure."

"Oh well, thanks, buddy!" She concluded as she turned to go down the beach.

Before she made it down to the beach, Warren spoke up, "Wait!"

Cassandra stopped and turned around, confused. "Yes?"

Warren closed the distance a bit before looking her in the eyes, his grey into her blue. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

Cassandra stepped back instinctually, surprised, and suddenly uncomfortable. "Oh… Well, not that I'm not interested-"

"Oh, so you are?" Warren interjected, a smile creeping on his lips.

_"Alright, man, relax," _she thought to herself.

"I don't know. Things are crazy right now, and I got a lot on my plate at the moment. I'm flattered you asked, but I have to get going. Sorry!"

Cassandra quickly disengaged from Warren and tried to make her way down to the beach before responding.

She quickly got onto the sandy beach as Long Island Sound stood before her with a low haze. As if it was sick, and they knew that things weren't looking well. Perhaps Poseidon isn't happy either. He is, after all, known for his earthquakes and destruction of coastlines. The sinking of ships, the Wielder of the mighty storms.

She quickly shoved those thoughts aside. Getting heralded worked up for no reason was only going to make things harder on herself.

Over to her left, she could see a couple walking down the sands. The two guys held hands as they spoke to each other. She could see a fleet of triremes sitting in the sea, an exercise set up between two ships to her right. She spotted Mike Donovan, the head of the Nike cabin shouting out orders to everyone. He dressed in full armor with a Warhammer on his back. Cassandra approached him, giving him a wave.

"Make sure the teams are even! Prove you can obtain victory strategically." He ordered before turning to Cassandra. "Hey Cassie, what are you doing down here?"

Cassandra gave him a big smile, "I'm looking for Kalin! Is he here?"

At the mention of Kalin, Mike's naturally warm face suddenly grew hard and cold.

_"Uh oh,"_ she thought to herself.

"He's not here," he said before turning back to the battle.

She was not about to be ignored.

"Hey! What's with the cold shoulder?" She demanded, her temper flaring a bit.

"Don't worry about it. He's not here."

"Well, you were nice to be before I mentioned him. I need to give him something," she lied.

"What do you have to give him?"

"None of your business, Mike. It's between me and Kalin," Cassandra growled, annoyed and confused by Mike's sudden rude behavior.

Mike whirled around and stepped close to her. His nose was mere inches from hers. He looked livid.

"Fuck off Cassandra. Stay away from Kalin," he snarled, his nostrils flaring.

Cassandra tightened her fists and almost lost it right then and there. Instead she stormed away, pissed off and frustrated.

"_What is his deal? Why won't he let me see Kalin? What are they hiding?"_ She thought to herself as she climbed the dunes to the pavilion. "_That means she was right and that something is happening!" _

At first she was elated by her clue but then she felt sick in her stomach, her chest felt tight with anxiety and worry. If something was coming, then they were all in danger. She had to find out more though. She had to find Kalin!

She was crossing through the pavilion when a familiar face with long, dark brown hair swept back from his tanned face.

Caspian.

He had a dark complexion, easily could've been Arabic or Indian. He smiled at her confidently however it immediately shifted to an awkward grimace. He was always a bit shy.

"Caspian?" She inquired.

Caspian gave a small wave, "Yep."

So…

"What are you doing here?" She asked, slightly amused by his awful social skills.

Caspian immediately kicked to life, "Oh! I learned a few things about Julian! Like you asked, remember?"

Cassandra hadn't put that high in her priority list but it was good to know Caspian was a man of honor.

"Oh yeah! Thanks! So what do you know?" She replied with as much happiness as she could muster.

Caspian took a breath before explaining.

Julian was a son of Ares but half brothers with Theo D'Harcourt who they both shared the same mom with. Apparently Theo's mom and his godly parent who is also a female had a child through however the fuck. Caspian didn't explain. He shuddered and skipped it and Cassandra wasn't too keen to know. Theo and Julian were close but both of them were super close friends with Kalin. Julian likes to fight and train. He was impatient, stubborn. He had the worst manners Caspian had ever seen. He was beyond pig headed and rude. However he was beyond loyal, he did have a big heart, always kept his word, and would do anything for his family.

Caspian took a long breath and smiled at Cassandra.

"Wow Caspian, I'm impressed. You gleaned a lot from him," She managed, her surprise genuine.

Caspian shrugged, "I have a great intuition."

Cassandra was about to thank him but surprised herself by wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight.

"Thank you," she mumbled in his shoulder.

Caspian was tight and rigid before slowly lossening into the hug. "Uh..Der," he croaked.

She let go and laughed at the sight of his red face.

"Caspian it's just a hug!" She chuckled.

The laugh was the best thing that had happened in the last week. She needed it more than she realized. At that moment, she felt like she was just a normal camper at Camp Half-Blood. Just for a moment though.

"No yeah, I know," he said nonchalantly, sliding his hands into his pockets.

Cassandra gave him a look and walked by him to take a nap. As she passed him she thought of Kalin. If Caspian can find out stuff about Julian, maybe he can learn about Kalin!

"Hey Caspian!" She said suddenly as she turned around.

He was heading towards the archery range but stopped and looked back. "Yeah?"

She jogged over to him and put on her best pleading face. She turned the charm to full.

"Could you look into Kalin for me?" She pouted, as she stepped extra close to him, letting her nails touch his shirt.

Caspian looked like a fish gasping for air.

"Well… I mean I could- if you want. I mean I'm not that busy but sure yeah,"

Cassandra gave him a kiss on the cheek and even held it for a moment before running off.

"You are the best Caspian!" She yelled back.

She was off to take a nap. After that she had the hellhounds. May Apollo watch over her.

**Hope you enjoy the chapter guys! Next up is Elena! Make sure to review, comment and let me know what ya think! Chapter up in a week or less :) **

**-Jules Di**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Seed**

**5**

**Elena**

**Elena wasn't prepared for what was to come. **

She woke to someone beating her door. She let out a loud groan and reached for her spear. She felt the cold metal brush her fingertips but fall to the ground with a loud clatter. The sound was a thunderclap to her ears.

"WHAT?!" She yelled at the door.

She buried her head under her pillow and covered herself in her blankets. She couldn't hear anything. It was warm and comfortable again. She felt her mind begin to drift and sleep about to take hold when she heard a loud bang!

"ELENA!" A voice yelled.

Elena threw off her covers in a fury before reason could take over her senses. Theo was standing in the door, dressed in a nice button-up, some khakis, and loafers. He had his pants rolled up, so his ankles were visible, and had his necklace under his shirt.

"You sleeping, hun?" He said with a smirk.

Elena grabbed her spear off the floor and felt a surge of power flowing within her. She aimed her spear right at his head.

"WAIT! We have a date, remember?" He stammered quickly, his face half-amused and terrified.

Elena stared at him.

"Alright, I'll fuck off, but you better be ready. I worked my ass off to get two Pegasi reserved for us," he said as he walked out of the cabin and shut the door.

Elena set her spear next to her shield in the corner and quickly got dressed in some simple jeans and Camp Half-Blood shirt. She slipped on some shoes and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before running a hand through her hair and seeing if she was presentable.

She checked her phone, which she kept hidden since half-bloods weren't allowed to have modern technology, to see the time.

_3:46 pm_

Well, she got a 45-minute nap, not the worst. She always slept during her free time. Naps were the most crucial time of the day. She had to deal with a whole cabin worth of prideful and stubborn siblings. It was beyond frustrating. They were always fighting, and none of them could be wrong.

So she had to zap a few of them.

It straightened them out a bit, and she did hold back a lot of power. She gave them a love tap to get them to cool off a bit. It worked. Mostly.

She spent a few minutes stretching before heading out of her cabin. Theo was talking to one of her siblings, Yuri, natively Ukrainian. Do not say he's Russian. It won't go well.

They both turned and saw her. "Hey there, sleepyhead," Theo said with a half-smile.

Yuri gave her a small wave. He had a buzz cut, with a full goatee. He had pale skin, an earring in his left ear, and had a scar along his forearm from when his mom attacked him with a kitchen knife. He was roughly seventeen, a bit rough around the edges. He was usually cold towards people, but with time he opened up.

"You ever beat on my door like that again, Theo, and I swear I'll tell the camp about what happened," she whispered with deadly seriousness.

Theo put his hands up in mock surrender, "Wow, okay, someone is grumpy."

Yuri gave Theo a sidelong glance. "I told you not to beat on the door. It would piss her off."

"It would piss anyone off," Elena interjected.

Theo clapped his hands together, "So! Yuri, thank you for your assistance; you are my hero."

Yuri grunted and gave Elena a nod before heading off.

Elena gave him a curious look. Theo put his hands up, "he's not my type. Too cold and moody. I like my men to be strong and powerful."

Elena let out a laugh, "Well, have fun. You have a wide variety here."

Theo slipped his hand into hers. "Come on. We have to get to the stables."

Elena looked up at the darkened sky and could feel the energy in it. It was angry. And with anger came a dangerous amount of power. Lightning always felt like a grab away from her. Easily accessible, easily harnessed. The only problem was it was beyond difficult to handle and control appropriately. It wasn't a game as she made it out to be at times.

The sea was to her right, which had two ships fighting it out in a naval battle; she wasn't sure who was winning. She could see ballista and onagers making shots at both boats as they danced around each other. A few arrows flew between them both as both sides fought desperately for supremacy. She could see a few people off on the sides floating just above the water, almost like they were standing on it.

"_Children of Poseidon are referees and combat medics it seems,"_ she noticed.

She had half a mind to go down and watch the fight up close but remembered her date with Theo and decided against it.

The day seemed to open up Elena's emotions. Anytime the sky was overcast or cloudy, she found herself able to think much better. She wanted to find a quiet spot and just write or draw. Drawing whatever came to mind was almost as good as sleep. It was a beautiful release that she craved often. She was picky about it, though. The circumstances had to be just right for her; otherwise, she would fidget and struggle. She mildly hoped it would rain. She loved the rain, regardless of whether it was powerful winds with heavy showers or drizzle. The rain was like a cleansing to her. Her father's way of cleansing the world of its filth. It was peaceful

She couldn't help but remember her time in Seattle before she arrived at Camp Half-Blood. The northwest was always cloudy, but it never bothered her. Her mom had fallen hard for her father. She was this artistic genius, always on a whim with drawing or writing, leaving dozens and dozens of phrases and poems everywhere. While he was an interested buyer, not that he knew anything about painting, he came around so often that they ended hanging out and falling in love. Their home was open and welcome. She wasn't sure why her dad chose her; from what she gathered from her other siblings, their dad tended to favor the pretty and famous women. Elena didn't think her mom wasn't pretty because she was gorgeous. It was that she didn't believe that her mom was his type.

She used to spend endless days in the studio with her mom drawing and writing. Gods, she missed those days sometimes. She missed her mom.

They arrived at the stables, which smelled of horse and poop. It was one of the downsides of the Pegasi stables, but it was worth having. It was usually managed by campers willing to keep an eye on them, roughly fifteen campers now.

They had twenty or so Pegasi that stayed regularly and another fifteen or so that would stop by every week to eat, and as some of the Poseidon children put it, chill out. She wasn't sure what horses had to talk about, but they could be quite vulgar from what she gathered from others.

Inside the stables, the Demeter cabin was brushing several of the Pegasi, growing several more pounds of hay as well as learning the proper way to approach and fly a Pegasi.

At the front, managing and watching everything unfold, a girl with frizzy, red hair, and pale skin noticed Theo and gave him a wave. Natalie Herrins, councilor of Demeter Cabin as well as head of the stables. In her early twenties, she was an accomplished horse cutter. She had helped her mom in a few agricultural quests.

"Theodore! How are you? Oh, and you brought Elena too, I see!" She exclaimed, a wide grin visible on her face.

Elena gave her a polite hello while Theo hugged her.

"Hey babe, are they ready for us?" Theo asked.

Natalie nodded, "yeah, of course. Follow me."

She led them out back where a wide-open space of grass was fenced in. In the area, three Pegasi were waiting with a familiar face rubbing the nose of a black one.

"No fucking way," Elena said aloud.

Kalin was standing in the pasture.

Kalin looked confused, "What?"

Elena quickly covered her mouth before looking at Theo expectantly. Theo just smiled at Kalin, and the two approached and hugged. They walked over towards the Pegasi and said a few words Elena couldn't hear before Theo gestured her over.

"Don't just stand there with a stick up your ass! Come over here!" Theo bellowed, his voice suddenly very loud.

_"Always dramatic," _she thought to herself.

She made her way over towards the boys. She gave Kalin a look of annoyance before heading to the only white Pegasi of the group. The horse snorted at her as if to say, "About time!" However, she wasn't sure how to mount the horse since it didn't have a saddle.

She turned to ask Theo for help, but he was already on his Pegasi. Before she could get his attention, the horse began to take flight.

"_Great, now I will stand here and look dumb," _she thought to herself.

She was about to lift herself onto the horse when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry about before," Kalin said, his voice soft and gentle. "Are you okay?"

Elena turned around, her lips tight with frustration. She was still angry when Kalin beat her in the capture of the Flag match. It was an embarrassment she wasn't going to let slide. She didn't realize though, how much she resented him for embarrassing her. She wasn't mad at him, more so that it happened.

"I'm fine. I will beat you, Kalin. You aren't invincible," she proclaimed, her voice firm and robust.

"Maybe, you will. I wouldn't be surprised," he replied, a small smile playing on his soft lips.

She blinked in surprise.

What did she care about his lips for? She gave him a once over. He was handsome. His body was muscular and lean, while his movements were always graceful, like he was still careful with what he touched. His caramel, brown hair was tied back with a few strands falling in his face giving him this almost glowing look. His eyes were a soft caramel-like his hair and had this genuine look of concern and care in them that felt as if he could see into her soul. He was so beautiful it hurt.

She shook out of her revere and pointed at the horse. "Will you help me? I've never ridden before, and Theo left already," she said quickly, trying to hide the blush in her face.

Kalin took her hand; his were calloused and worn from battles and training the same as hers. He helped lift her onto the horse. He showed her where to lean and hold while also telling her the horse's name was Carmis. Just as she felt confident enough to fly, Kalin suddenly lifted himself onto the horse behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist.

He pressed his chest against her back, his breath right into her ear, "I won't let you fly alone for your first time. Let this be my amends for hurting you."

Suddenly he gave a sharp yell, and the horse expanded its massive wings and gave a mighty kick before taking off into the cloudy sky.

Elena gave a small yell, but Kalin tightened his grip on her and leaned into the horse.

"Open your eyes," he whispered into her ear. The sensation sent warm tingles all across her body.

Elena hadn't realized she had her eyes closed. When she did, she was above the defensive barrier, flying along Long Island Sound's edge.

In the sea, a fleet of triremes sat at anchor, while two were seemingly being used. The whole island was suddenly visible as endless streams of trees were visible until the entirety of New York City could be seen in the distance. Small dots of towns and roads could be seen cutting through the countryside as they climbed higher and higher.

Elena was dumbstruck. Flying was beautiful. It was elegant and pure. She knew Jason Grace could fly. Could she?

She knew that some children of Zeus and Jupiter could control the winds. Maybe she could. It was dangerous, but an idea began to form in her head.

She urged Kalin to fly up higher until they reached a point where the horse seemed to wish to lower. She felt a feeling in her stomach, a growing power. She decided that was the moment and just leaned off the horse, letting herself fall. Kalin gave a yell behind her.

She could feel the winds around her, the power they gave, she barely managed to turn herself left or right but not enough. She then began to realize the sea was closing in. She couldn't make herself float. She didn't know enough. She was about to die.

Suddenly she landed on a hard surface with a pair of arms wrapped firmly around her, white wings flapping hard to stay above the water, which splashed mere feet below.

"Don't ever do that to me again, Elena!" He yelled, his face was wrought with worry and anger. "Why would you let go of the Pegasi?"

She was surprised by his concern. She was always reckless. She was still doing stuff that was careless and ever got hurt. That's who she was. Pushing the limits of everything was the purpose of progress. It wasn't that she wasn't scared, of course, she was afraid. She was just willing to stand in the face of her fears and raise a finger.

Today's stunt was dumb. She knew that much, but she couldn't explain the confidence she felt in herself. She always felt as if everything could be achieved if it was merely dared. How could she explain that to anyone? She already struggled with her pride, and beyond that, she struggled with a grudge more than anyone. Perhaps she was taking things a little too far this time.

"I wanted to see if I could fly like Jason Grace," she forcefully, her voice barely being kept level. She could tell she was keeping her head up high. She didn't want to look weak.

"Fly like Jason?! Dammit, Elena, there are safer ways to do that! Control the winds from the ground and lift yourself for one!" He yelled.

Okay, so maybe she was impulsive.

They were speeding towards the stables; it seems Kalin was done with her for the day. She clenched her jaw in anger. She knew he was right. She did something beyond stupid and ruined the day.

She was still trying to figure out how to apologize when they landed; Theo was already there talking to Natalie.

Before they even landed, Kalin leaped off the horse with the grace of an elf and stormed off.

"Oh, hey, you guys! How did-" Theo started before he realized Kalin pushed past him. He took a moment and looked towards her, who was sliding off the Pegasi. "What did you do?" He asked, the confusion plain across his face.

Elena clenched her fists, but she couldn't get angry. She felt horrible for scaring him like that. He probably thought she was a lunatic.

She just ran past Theo, determined to find Kalin. She ran out of the stables and looked around. She let out a groan when he was nowhere to be seen.

"_Well, that's just great!" _She thought to herself, frustrated and annoyed.

She could hear footsteps behind her and turn around. She wasn't surprised to see Theo looking at her, confused.

"What's going on, Elena?" He asked gently before he suddenly gasped, "You two kissed, didn't you!? I knew it! I knew you two would be a perfect match. It's beautiful truly, I don't know how I do it if I'm honest-"

"What? No, we didn't kiss Theo. Is that why you just dipped on me?" She demanded.

Theo shook his head gently, "No, Elena. Okay, well, maybe. However I think you would be good for each other! He could use someone like you and well you need-"

He stopped talking abruptly.

"Oh no, please don't stop now. Please inform me of what I need. Please," she demanded, her voice rising higher and higher.

"Elena," Theo began gently, "what's the matter? What's got you so worked up. It's not me."

Elena was shaking with rage but it occurred to her that she wasn't mad at Theo. It was herself. She was having fun flying with Kalin and she ruined it. She had never seen that side of him before. He was kind and considerate while also being courageous. She ruined it due to her impulsiveness. Now Kalin probably hated her.

Elena clenched her fists and looked down at the ground. "I'm a dumbass. I freaked Kalin out and now he probably thinks I'm crazy."

Theo had the gall to laugh. "Well what did you do?"

Elena explained her flight up and how they pushed the Pegasi super high before she let go and attempted to fly. She explained how Kalin had barely saved her life and how he immediately stormed off.

When she finished, Theo stared at her like she had just eaten raw fish.

"Jesus you are a dumbass," he said simply, his face baffled.

Elena punched him in the arm, "Shut up."

Theo wrapped an arm around her and began to guide her towards the arena. "Well looks like you can relive this failure forever as we watch the Apollo cabin face down the hellhounds eh?"

Elena looked up towards the sky and realized that an hour or so had passed. All of the campers headed towards the training arena as they spoke.

It was time for a show and Elena had a bad feeling it wouldn't go well at all.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please be sure to comment guys so I know if I'm doing well! I'll see you guys in the next chapter in a week or less! **

**-Jules Di**


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